TNAG-0247-FCO40-283-Exchange-of-newsletters-between-Foreign-and-Commonwealth-Off-1970 — Page 8

Hong Kong Department.

3

M March

15

Is any action

ह

in

Pl. consull

HKK 6/548/3.

With the compliments of

the senior britisH TRADE?

BRITISH

COMMISSIONER

HONG KONG

12~

20

J.K.Blackwell 24 December, 1970.

7TH FLOOR

SHELL HOUSE

HK/LG/508/3

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97/1

Communications Department,

Foreign & Commonwealth Office, London, S.W.1.

24 December, 1970.

Dear Department,

2

(D) SubFile

A copy of Mr. S. J. Davey's minute about our telex charges on behalf of the Hong Kong Immigration Department was sent to me by T.J. McGing of Finance Department on 30 October.

I think I ought to explain that it was arranged by my predecessor with the Hong Kong Director of Immigration that his Department should be allowed to use our Telex in cases of urgency. This was part of a general arrangement for the speeding up of the provision of visas and travel documents for Chinese and foreign businessmen travelling to the United Kingdom for the purpose of purchasing British goods. My predecessor felt that this was a small service we could do to assist that Department in an operation which was of direct benefit to British trade.

If we are now to deny this service to the Immigration authorities who have hitherto been most co-operative and helpful to this Commission, I am afraid that we shall only succeed in slowing down the process and discouraging local businessmen from visiting the United Kingdom, thus undoing all the good work of my predecessor.

We can obviously not charge the Immigration Department for telexes sent on behalf of the Home Office and I suggest, therefore, that we charge these up to the Home Office in our office accounts. This is surely no more complicated than the Home Office having to refund to the Immigration Department the cost of telegrams sent through Cable & Wireless and it would help to keep our relations with the Department on their present pleasant and useful level.

You will remember that we are also under an obligation to the Immigration Department here for having taken over all the visa and passport work from the Consulate in Macao when that office was combined with this Commission a couple of years ago.

I am sending a copy of this letter to Export Promotion Department and to Hong Kong Department (who may care to refer to Bunny Carter's letter (reference HKK 6/548/3) of 9 July, 1969, to my predecessor).

52) Prev file

JKB:jms

J.K.Blackwell

Senior British Trade Commissioner

Pag

Pag

1. Mr. S. Davey (Comms der Room K110)

UNITED KINGDOM TRADE COMMISSIONER

NOV 1970

HOR AN

Could

25

you kindly give us a ruling on this

ustiven

Mr. Eugus sa

2.

[W.H Ewens) Firemaks Litigtö 123/10/76.

"O What a tangled wels ets!

Justly, Miss. Miller in Mig. and Visa Ded. tells me that, because of bleng Kong's status

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